


Up in Flames

by IvoryLotus



Series: As the World Burns Around Us [1]
Category: The Lorien Legacies - Pittacus Lore
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, Possible Character Death, Rare Pairings, We Die Like Men, Worried Nine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 11:01:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvoryLotus/pseuds/IvoryLotus
Summary: A brief look into Nine's mind when he learns about the destruction in Chicago.





	Up in Flames

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first fanfiction I have ever posted so please be kind! This is my take on Nine's thoughts when he learns about Chicago, and I'm playing around with the idea of writing some accompanying works depending on the response this story generates. Hope you enjoy!

Nine saw the news flash across the screen, and even the grainy quality of the small television set didn’t stop him from recognizing the still smoking remains of the only place Nine ever remembers calling home. He is sure the loss will hit him like a freight train once reality sets in, but right now, a cold, that has nothing to do with Marina’s new legacy, is circulating through his veins, leaving him numb to all but one single fact.

  
John.

  
John was in there. John, and Ella, and Sam, and Malcolm, and Sarah, and John.

  
John, who saved him in every sense.

  
First, by breaking him out of his own personal cell in hell, and then by accepting Nine for all he was. The good. The bad… And the broken. He opened himself up, let himself be vulnerable for the first time in over a year, and John took one look at him and accepted him, despite having been a dick since the very beginning.  


And the last time he saw John, he was pale and comatose next to Ella, a stark contrast to his usual appearance. Nine didn’t want to leave him like that, but he knew that John would want him to go, and Chicago was the safest place he knew.  


He glances back up at the destruction on the television, and is immediately reminded of how that isn’t the case anymore. His world going up in flames replaying on the TV like a cheap rerun.  


John was in no way able to defend himself when he left; he could be severely injured, bleeding to death, and unable to heal himself. He could have been captured and being tortured at his very minute, he –  


“Nine…,” Six starts, but trails off like she is unsure if I’m processing anything that is happening right now.  


Honestly, I don’t care what Six, or Marina, or anyone else thinks right now. All I care about right now is John, and finding a way to get to wherever he is, regardless of where that might be.  


Without so much as a glance in their direction, I spin around and head for the door. I hear Six get up to follow, but I don’t even bother slowing down. She can catch up. I’m already in the parking lot when Six clears the front door.  


“Where are you going?” She shouts after me.  


“Chicago,” I return as if it’s the most obious answer in the world, because to me, it is.  


“You’re going to walk to Chicago? That’s your plan?” She questions, clearly not understanding what I would do to get to John.  


I would crawl all the way to Chicago if that’s what it took, but there are faster ways…  


“Good point,” he replies, new plans formulating in his head as he walks. “I’ll steal a car. You guys coming or what?”  


Six has clearly had enough.  


“Stop being an idiot,” she snaps behind me. I ignore her, right up until she grabs me with her telekinesis and whips me around to face her, my heels dragging in gravel as I dig in, trying to resist.  


“Let me go, Six,” Nine growls. “Let me go right now.”  


“Stop and think for a second,” Six insists with a desperation in her eyes that makes me pause for the first time to look at her. Really look at her.  


She has the same desperate need in her eyes that I recognize in myself. The need to get back to the person who means the most to us.  


Six continues to reason with me, and even though I don’t like it, I can see where she is coming from. I reluctantly accept her weak reassurances that John is okay, but I still feel my shoulders slump with the weight of my despair.  


Nine looks down the darkened road and thinks of the first time he ever saw John. His cloths were burnt and he was covered in a mixture of dirt and mog ash, but he was still the most beautiful person he had ever seen, and when those blue eyes locked on mine, I knew there would never be another.  


He was it for me.  


‘Well,’ I think to myself, ‘looks like you’re going to have to find me one more time Johnny.’


End file.
